Searching the closer for orange-wear

Leah Garchik Leah Garchik

Published 4:00 am, Monday, April 12, 2010

So there we were, sitting at Friday's Giants home opener, and I was thinking I'd write about the very tender and tasteful orange color of the carnations worn by Giants staffers; or the bold-faced names at the game (MayorGavin Newsomstayed until the end, as did Francis Fordand Ellie Coppola; Danny Gloverleft around the eighth inning; Cissie Swig had flowers in her baseball hat); or Christine Pelosi, with baby Isabella in arms, apologizing to Mimi Silbertfor missing the Delancey Street seder, but they were at the White House Easter egg roll and "Emily Post says it's OK to put a White House invitation in front of all others"; or the choreographed introduction to the team, the players crossing the field together like an army of warriors arriving at Agincourt; or the sweet couple next to us, who seemed very much in love, but every time one of them went to the restroom, the other used the opportunity to check electronic messages.

But then, in the bottom of the ninth, the game happened. And by the time it was over in the 13th, we were jumping up and down and high-fiving our neighbors. And, hoopla or no hoopla, that's the best part of baseball. Yahoo.

P.S.: Former Chronicle colleague Dan Fost, whose new book is "Giants Past & Present," was on Michael Krasny's "Forum" on KQED last week with Giants President Larry Baerand San Francisco State English Professor Emeritus and baseball expert Eric Solomon. Baer couldn't catch a break. He got ribbed by Fost on the typo "San Francicso" on a player's jersey last week. And when Baer mentioned that the team was going to be selling Tim Lincecumwigs - well, they had to sell something after the bottom fell out of the rubber chicken market - Solomon blurted out to Baer, "Have you no shame?"

Friday's game made up for all that. And Fost will be at Book Passage in Corte Madera meeting fans and signing his book on April 21.

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Class acts:

-- Olympia Dukakis, here appearing in ACT's "Vigil," showed up at the Eureka Theatre for a matinee of the Eastender's Dario Fo production, "FO/FAUX! We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay!" Offered a senior discount on her ticket price, she said she wanted to pay the full amount, to support small theater.

-- Sal Deguarda celebrated his 90th birthday recently with a party on Treasure Island, where during the 1939 World's Fair, he was an Aquabeau in Billy Rose's Aquacade. Deguarda's bio says he was a "swimmer, diver, Hollywood actor, stuntman, sportsman and concrete contractor (three generations)," and for a time he was one of Mae West's accessory/gents. Nowadays, Deguarda is devoted to the idea of re-creating "Pacifica," the statue built for that fair. He envisions this 81-foot-tall figure to be constructed at least partly out of recycled bottles, using solar power for night lights. More information is at links.sfgate.com/ZJLZ.

-- Say hello to Herb, the Friendly Ghost: Someone's tweeting a daily sentence from an old Herb Caencolumn; tweets @HerbCaen.

-- City Arts & Lectures sold out Wednesday's Hayes Street Grill dinner with New Yorker editor David Remnick. But broadcast of the conversation between Remnick, whose new book is "The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama," and Roy Eisenhardtwas impossible, because taping is impossible at the restaurant. Impresario Sydney Goldstein had already booked Herbst Theatre that night for an 8 p.m. appearance by neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine, so she'll double dip. You can hear Remnick there, free, Wednesday, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. No tickets required, no Q&A ; hush, now, is all that's asked of the audience.

John McCainhad dinner in a party of 11 at the Presidio Social Club on Thursday night. He said the meatballs were the best he had ever had (and I'll bet he's met a lot of meatballs in his life).